Keeping things personal is extremely important to First Integrity Mortgage of St. Louis, Missouri, to the point that they don’t use voice mail or screen phone calls, so that callers can always talk to a live person. So when they were faced with being orphaned by their "sunsetting" loan origination system -- a problem faced by many mortgage originators as technology providers consolidate and/or exit the business during the current downturn -- they went looking for a replacement whose provider reflected their personal service values.
"We started our due diligence by looking at advertisements in industry publications and reading stories written about loan origination systems," said Eve Janis, senior vice president and operations manager for First Integrity.
"I spoke to many of my counterparts with other companies and found out who they were using."
After almost a year of research and investigation, First Integrity Mortgage selected Southfield, Michigan-based LOS provider Mortgage Builder, citing the personal approach the software company took during the due diligence period and later, during implementation.
First Integrity is a regional mortgage bank in the St. Louis area, serving all of Missouri and nearby Illinois communities. They close about 100 loans a month, have been in business over 15 years, and have 30 employees.
"We don’t even outsource an incoming call to voicemail," quipped Janis. "We wanted to handle things like docs, HMDA data and 1098s ourselves because it gives us control over our customer service levels. It’s one reason we enjoy a 98 percent approval rating from our customers."
First Integrity installed and tested Mortgage Builder in the first week of March 2008, trained their people during the third week of the month, and by April 1, every one of their closings took place in Mortgage Builder. The lender is taking the implementation process in stages, currently using the basic modules, and will add warehouse monitoring and image management capabilities over the course of the next year.
For more information, visit http://www.mortgagebuilder.com.

This month inHousingWire magazine

Eight years after we began recognizing women for their influential work in the expanding housing and mortgage finance ecosystem, a traditionally male-dominated field, our Women of Influence list is bigger and better than ever! This year, we honor 85 women who are making lasting achievements in each sector of the housing economy. Read on to learn more about these accomplished women and the strides they are making in their industry segments.

Feature

The financial world at large is experimenting with changing its workforce culture in ways not fathomable 10 years ago. For example, in 2011, the dress code for female workers at UBS came to light with unflattering results. In it, the Swiss bank instructed female employees on not just how to dress and how to smell, but also preached the importance for ladies to apply lotion after taking showers. Fast forward to today and fellow Swiss bank, Credit Suisse has now created an official role to boost equal opportunities and create a fair treatment environment. Has the American mortgage industry made similar progress?

Commentary

The conversation around student loan debt and its economic impact on Millennials, those born from 1980 to 1998, has some questioning whether the future of the American Dream is in jeopardy. The nation’s student loan debt has soared to $1.4 trillion, surpassing credit cards in becoming the largest source of personal debt outside a mortgage.